Media Theory
(2021)
Table of Contents
Week 1 ............................................................................................................................. 2
Finding the Main Argument in Academic Writing ...................................................................... 2
Understanding Arguments ....................................................................................................... 2
Week 2: Introduction + Medium........................................................................................ 3
Roadmap to Media Theory: Philosophy, Theory, Method .......................................................... 3
Week 3: Technology ....................................................................................................... 14
Roadmap to Media Theory: Culturalism.................................................................................. 14
Week 4: Identity ............................................................................................................. 28
Roadmap to Media Theory: Structuralism............................................................................... 28
Week 5: Reality .............................................................................................................. 43
Roadmap to Media Theory: Post-Structuralism ....................................................................... 43
Week 6: Relationality ..................................................................................................... 62
Roadmap to Media Theory: New Materialism ......................................................................... 62
Week 7: Power ............................................................................................................... 87
Coding of the document:
- lectures
- readings
- names
- smaller sections
,Week 1
Finding the Main Argument in Academic Writing
- Skill: finding the main argument → forming own point of view
- Argument = expressing a point of view supported by evidence
- The main argument:
o THE MAIN POINT – the writer’s point of view
o IDEAS that support the main point – line of reasoning
o EVIDENCE that supports the ideas – reasons for point of view, for example,
reference to previous research
- Five sections in an academic journal article:
o Title = tells the topic of issue to be discussed
o Abstract = brief summary of the whole article; look for words that identify the
writer’s point of view: argue, claim, suggest, recommend or find
o Introduction = introduces background information and the main argument
o Body paragraphs = ideas and evidence that support the main argument;
research undertaken – what the research tells us
o Conclusion = main argument and supporting ideas re-stated
Understanding Arguments
- Critical thinking = apply reason and logic to evaluate something you read, hear or see
- Argument = made to address a specific problem, by offering a position and providing
reasons for that position
- Two parts to a basic argument:
o One or more premise = supposedly provide the reasons the person has for
thinking that the conclusion is true; the WHY
o A conclusion = not a summary, it’s a final statement of position someone is
taking on an issue or question
Evaluation of an argument
- Decide if premise(s) are accurate
- Are premises logically related to conclusion?
- Sometimes, the person making an argument assumes you know certain facts. These
are unstated premises = premises that are assumed rather than explicitly stated
- Application of reason or logic = instead of intuition, emotion or instinct
- Relationship of premise and conclusion = does the premise really lead to the
conclusion?
o strong argument = YES
o weak argument = NO
- Evaluate conclusions and premises separately → consider the relationship between
them
, - Unstated Assumptions: the missing link = pieces of the puzzle are missing; people
sometimes don’t explain their arguments very well; as of unstated premises
o Unstated assumptions can lead to incomplete argument analysis
Week 2: Introduction + Medium
Roadmap to Media Theory: Philosophy, Theory, Method
- Media theory has emerged since the 20th century – media gained place in everyday
lives, but has roots in philosophy
Philosophy
- The fundamental study of the nature of:
o Reality (metaphysics – What is real?)
o Value (axiology – What is right? What is beautiful? What is good?)
o Knowledge (epistemology – How do we know?)
Metaphysics: the nature of reality
- Plato’s Allegory of the cave: is what we see real? – in media, Plato’s allegory of the
cave is the basis of the cinema viewer setting – watching something projected on the
wall, puppeteer casting the shadow → how does what we see relate to reality?
- Ontology: what constitutes the essence of being? The essence of life, the essence of
what exists → The Ontology of the Photographic Image by Andre Bazin (1950s); the
ontology of film was its realistic potential, to represent what is real
- Marshall McLuhan: media theorist (1950s – 1960s), he argued that the essence of
electronic media such as TV is that it connects people all over the world, turning the
world into a ‘global village’
- Friedrich Kittler: Towards an Ontology of Media (2009)
Axiology: philosophy of value (aesthetics + ethics)
- Aesthetics: What is beautiful? What is value in art? Sense perception, taste, emotions
o Plato (5/4th century BC): He did not like art; art is a shadow of a shadow of
reality – it is a copy of a copy and therefore cannot hold any value
o Aristotle (4th century BC): rules of tragedy and comedy → theatrical tragedy is
able to purify or release the emotions of the spectator; it has value
o David Hume (18th century): appreciation of art is a matter of taste, that could
be developed and learned; beauty is in the eye of the beholder – the more you
know, the more you can judge a value
▪ Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice,
perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice…is the true
standard of taste and of beauty (Of the Standard of Taste, 1757)
o Immanuel Kant (18th century): beauty is a property of artwork itself
, ▪ Something in the array of colors and textures prompts my mental
faculties to feel the object is ‘right’. …it promotes an internal harmony
or ‘free play’ of mental faculties. (Critique of Judgement, 1790)
- Ethics: What is good behavior? What is a good life? Behavior, choice, free will,
responsibility
o Aristotle: Ethics of virtue: All virtues are virtues of moderation
o Immanuel Kant: Kant considers humans as reasonable beings, whose moral
action can only be judged on their intention; Ethics of Good Will and Duty
(1788) – an action is good if the intention behind is good → Clockwork Orange
– Alex chooses to be morally wrong, but the Kantian dilemma of the film is
whether it is better to choose freely to be bad, than to be forced to be good
by torture and indoctrination
o Friedrich Nietzsche: Nihilism (1887); Life has no aim, “why?” finds no answer;
humans are not to be trusted to do the right thing or have good intentions →
American Psycho – Patrick Bateman finds no meaning in his life at the highest
point of capitalistic society; to live is to suffer, and to survive is to find a
meaning in the suffering; absurdity of existence
Epistemology: the nature of knowledge
- How do we know? What counts as knowledge?
- Knowledge = a justified true belief based on evidence
- Empiricism = knowledge comes only or primarily from experience
- Rationalism = knowledge comes from pure reasoning, ideas and thoughts
- Deep fake technology, Pizza Gate → fake knowledge
Theory
- Provides a framework, a vision or a model for explaining phenomena
- Theories have 2 main aims:
o They want to construct generalizable laws
o They want to gain in depth case by case knowledge and understanding
- Nomothetic theories: general laws, natural phenomena
o Knowledge based on general laws (statistics, classification)
o One ‘true’ reality that can be objectively measured
o Hypothesis testing in experiments that can be repeated
o Falsifiable results
o More common in natural sciences
o Data driven media theory
- Ideographic theories: specific and in depth, cultural phenomena
o Knowledge based on understanding specific cases (case studies)
o Multiple co-existing realities that can be subjectively interpreted
o Direct observations, descriptions, interviews and reflection
o Specific in depth knowledge
(2021)
Table of Contents
Week 1 ............................................................................................................................. 2
Finding the Main Argument in Academic Writing ...................................................................... 2
Understanding Arguments ....................................................................................................... 2
Week 2: Introduction + Medium........................................................................................ 3
Roadmap to Media Theory: Philosophy, Theory, Method .......................................................... 3
Week 3: Technology ....................................................................................................... 14
Roadmap to Media Theory: Culturalism.................................................................................. 14
Week 4: Identity ............................................................................................................. 28
Roadmap to Media Theory: Structuralism............................................................................... 28
Week 5: Reality .............................................................................................................. 43
Roadmap to Media Theory: Post-Structuralism ....................................................................... 43
Week 6: Relationality ..................................................................................................... 62
Roadmap to Media Theory: New Materialism ......................................................................... 62
Week 7: Power ............................................................................................................... 87
Coding of the document:
- lectures
- readings
- names
- smaller sections
,Week 1
Finding the Main Argument in Academic Writing
- Skill: finding the main argument → forming own point of view
- Argument = expressing a point of view supported by evidence
- The main argument:
o THE MAIN POINT – the writer’s point of view
o IDEAS that support the main point – line of reasoning
o EVIDENCE that supports the ideas – reasons for point of view, for example,
reference to previous research
- Five sections in an academic journal article:
o Title = tells the topic of issue to be discussed
o Abstract = brief summary of the whole article; look for words that identify the
writer’s point of view: argue, claim, suggest, recommend or find
o Introduction = introduces background information and the main argument
o Body paragraphs = ideas and evidence that support the main argument;
research undertaken – what the research tells us
o Conclusion = main argument and supporting ideas re-stated
Understanding Arguments
- Critical thinking = apply reason and logic to evaluate something you read, hear or see
- Argument = made to address a specific problem, by offering a position and providing
reasons for that position
- Two parts to a basic argument:
o One or more premise = supposedly provide the reasons the person has for
thinking that the conclusion is true; the WHY
o A conclusion = not a summary, it’s a final statement of position someone is
taking on an issue or question
Evaluation of an argument
- Decide if premise(s) are accurate
- Are premises logically related to conclusion?
- Sometimes, the person making an argument assumes you know certain facts. These
are unstated premises = premises that are assumed rather than explicitly stated
- Application of reason or logic = instead of intuition, emotion or instinct
- Relationship of premise and conclusion = does the premise really lead to the
conclusion?
o strong argument = YES
o weak argument = NO
- Evaluate conclusions and premises separately → consider the relationship between
them
, - Unstated Assumptions: the missing link = pieces of the puzzle are missing; people
sometimes don’t explain their arguments very well; as of unstated premises
o Unstated assumptions can lead to incomplete argument analysis
Week 2: Introduction + Medium
Roadmap to Media Theory: Philosophy, Theory, Method
- Media theory has emerged since the 20th century – media gained place in everyday
lives, but has roots in philosophy
Philosophy
- The fundamental study of the nature of:
o Reality (metaphysics – What is real?)
o Value (axiology – What is right? What is beautiful? What is good?)
o Knowledge (epistemology – How do we know?)
Metaphysics: the nature of reality
- Plato’s Allegory of the cave: is what we see real? – in media, Plato’s allegory of the
cave is the basis of the cinema viewer setting – watching something projected on the
wall, puppeteer casting the shadow → how does what we see relate to reality?
- Ontology: what constitutes the essence of being? The essence of life, the essence of
what exists → The Ontology of the Photographic Image by Andre Bazin (1950s); the
ontology of film was its realistic potential, to represent what is real
- Marshall McLuhan: media theorist (1950s – 1960s), he argued that the essence of
electronic media such as TV is that it connects people all over the world, turning the
world into a ‘global village’
- Friedrich Kittler: Towards an Ontology of Media (2009)
Axiology: philosophy of value (aesthetics + ethics)
- Aesthetics: What is beautiful? What is value in art? Sense perception, taste, emotions
o Plato (5/4th century BC): He did not like art; art is a shadow of a shadow of
reality – it is a copy of a copy and therefore cannot hold any value
o Aristotle (4th century BC): rules of tragedy and comedy → theatrical tragedy is
able to purify or release the emotions of the spectator; it has value
o David Hume (18th century): appreciation of art is a matter of taste, that could
be developed and learned; beauty is in the eye of the beholder – the more you
know, the more you can judge a value
▪ Strong sense, united to delicate sentiment, improved by practice,
perfected by comparison, and cleared of all prejudice…is the true
standard of taste and of beauty (Of the Standard of Taste, 1757)
o Immanuel Kant (18th century): beauty is a property of artwork itself
, ▪ Something in the array of colors and textures prompts my mental
faculties to feel the object is ‘right’. …it promotes an internal harmony
or ‘free play’ of mental faculties. (Critique of Judgement, 1790)
- Ethics: What is good behavior? What is a good life? Behavior, choice, free will,
responsibility
o Aristotle: Ethics of virtue: All virtues are virtues of moderation
o Immanuel Kant: Kant considers humans as reasonable beings, whose moral
action can only be judged on their intention; Ethics of Good Will and Duty
(1788) – an action is good if the intention behind is good → Clockwork Orange
– Alex chooses to be morally wrong, but the Kantian dilemma of the film is
whether it is better to choose freely to be bad, than to be forced to be good
by torture and indoctrination
o Friedrich Nietzsche: Nihilism (1887); Life has no aim, “why?” finds no answer;
humans are not to be trusted to do the right thing or have good intentions →
American Psycho – Patrick Bateman finds no meaning in his life at the highest
point of capitalistic society; to live is to suffer, and to survive is to find a
meaning in the suffering; absurdity of existence
Epistemology: the nature of knowledge
- How do we know? What counts as knowledge?
- Knowledge = a justified true belief based on evidence
- Empiricism = knowledge comes only or primarily from experience
- Rationalism = knowledge comes from pure reasoning, ideas and thoughts
- Deep fake technology, Pizza Gate → fake knowledge
Theory
- Provides a framework, a vision or a model for explaining phenomena
- Theories have 2 main aims:
o They want to construct generalizable laws
o They want to gain in depth case by case knowledge and understanding
- Nomothetic theories: general laws, natural phenomena
o Knowledge based on general laws (statistics, classification)
o One ‘true’ reality that can be objectively measured
o Hypothesis testing in experiments that can be repeated
o Falsifiable results
o More common in natural sciences
o Data driven media theory
- Ideographic theories: specific and in depth, cultural phenomena
o Knowledge based on understanding specific cases (case studies)
o Multiple co-existing realities that can be subjectively interpreted
o Direct observations, descriptions, interviews and reflection
o Specific in depth knowledge
